Thousands of women are raped in war zones every year. I plan to document the lives of victims in Bukavu, Congo.

Political conflict carried over from Kigali, Rwanda into the Bukavu region led to thousands of troops stationed there since 1998: United Nations, Rwandan and Congolese. Military governments fight over gold, diamonds and other natural resources.

Violence against women skyrocketed with the influx of troops. Dr. Denis Mukwege directs the Red Cross supported Panzi rape clinic just outside Bukavu. He estimated in August 2005 that he would treat 4,000 rape victims from the immediate area by the end of the year — up from 3,600 the year before.

I spent one week at a rape seminar in Bukavu this past August. I interviewed women and established a relationship at the rape clinic. The Congolese women deserve to have their story told. If I secure grant money, I plan to return to Bukavu for summer 2006 to continue documenting these women.

"There are 250 beds [at the clinic]," Mukwege said. "They are always full. Women wait four weeks to see a doctor."

Women are most often raped in "the bush" while performing daily chores such as farming or collecting wood and water.

"I was taken in the bush," Alphonsine told other women at the rape seminar. "Now I have AIDS." Virtually every victim suffers from inconstitution and must receive surgery to repair obliterated genitals to control bowel movements again.

Women are sometimes raped in front of their family or dragged to a central location in the community to be raped in front of their friends and neighbors. Sometimes soldiers force boys to rape their mother, grandmother, or sister.

Alphonsine’s husband kicked her out of their home and abandoned her and their children after she was raped in front of him.

"It is shameful. I have been ruined and he does not want me. My children are ruined. I have no way to earn money and no food to feed them. I have no place to live." It was a Rwandan soldier that raped Alphonsine, but Congolese and UN soldiers are raping too.

It doesn’t matter how old a girl is, the soldiers will rape her. A woman stood with Julie, her 3-year-old granddaughter. She said Julie was gang raped; a soldier put his gun in her vagina and fired it. Attractive young women are kidnapped and kept as sex slaves for months at a time. Most die from repeated gang rape and other physical violations.

If they become pregnant, the lucky ones are let go. Multiple reports tell of women whose babies were cut from their uterus and left to die.

"Many men came for me. Sometimes 5, 10, 20 in one day," a 16-year-old shared. "Then, they took the knife of their gun and put it in my vagina. In one excruciating circumstance a woman tells that after being gang raped by Rwandan soldiers, they forced her to butcher and cook her child.

There is no excuse for women to be destroyed like this, physically, emotionally and mentally. I may not be able to do anything to stop the Rwandan or Congolese soldiers, but the United Nations must be held accountable for the actions of its soldiers. I can communicate visually what is happening to women in war zones.

For 16 days in 2005, from Nov. 25 through Dec. 10, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights sponsored a conference in Geneva that specifically addressed "the connections between women"s human rights, violence against women and women"s health, and the detrimental consequences violence against women has on the well-being of the world as a whole."

Through contacts previously established, I have secured a volunteer translator, as well as room and board at no cost for three months in the region. A local pastor (name withheld for security) oversees a church made up mostly of raped, ostracized women and their children. Their congregation has invited me to document these women"s lives as they try to survive after the rape — many have no housing or food. Some prostitute themselves for a few dollars, a bed or a handful of food. Sometimes an individual will take pity on a woman and just let her sleep, without sharing her bed. I have permission to document the surgery and recovery process of women at the Panzi rape clinic. For the cost of a plane ticket, I will be able to document and share the lives of rape victims in east Congo.